The Arrow & Faris Alzzalam
by DragoVrede
Summary: The Arrow & Faris Alzzalam, Another take on the arrow. This features Shado and Oliver romance, plus a third party yet to be revealed. Oliver is not the Arrow, Shado is and Oliver is Faris Alzzalam (Hint to the third party, I mean it's obvious right). This is another Dark Oliver Fanfic, similar to The Choices We Made. Rated T for now but if I feel like it, it might go up to M.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or anything else you may recognize. All characters belong to their creators.**

 **Alright, well here is another take on Arrow this time with Oliver and Shado romance. Sara never got on the gambit, Laurel and Oliver were engaged before she broke it off causing Oliver to go on the Gambit. Thea thanks to Sara doesn't fall to far into her addictions. Deathstroke and the canary will be replaced or forgotten altogether, not sure yet. And I'm not sure when I'll update again, but I do plan on continuing.**

 _[Unnamed Island]_

 _A man in black hood breathes heavily whilst running through the flush green forest, running and jumping using the low hanging branches of the trees all around him. He reaches a cliff wall and begins to climb, once on top he sprints and jumps onto the next cliff reaching a clearing, he takes a moment to look out at sea and sees what looks like to be a fishing boat. He runs to a fallen tree where he had stored her bow and arrows, he takes a special arrow covered in tar and using a knife strapped to his thigh he flicks it and the arrow is engulfed in flame; He carefully takes aim down at the shore, where a pile of logs has been placed as a marker, he gages the wind and releases the arrow. Upon impact the marker explodes in a ball of fire. The fishermen see the explosion and decide to investigate. As soon as he sees the lifeboat out on the water he races down to the shore. The fishermen are on the island walking towards the bonfire, when they see a mask, half is black and the other half is orange and faded, on a steak with an arrow through one eye. Just as the fishermen look back up they see the man in black approaching, they cautiously look at him when he falls to his knees and pulls down his hood, revealing a pair of blue piercing eyes, long blonde hair, overgrown facial hair and a face covered in dirt._

 **The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's mandarin for "purgatory". I've been stranded here for 5 years. I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For 5 years, I have had only one thought, one goal... survive... survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen.**

 _[Starling City 5 Days Earlier]_

 _ **Anchorman: Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea 5 days ago, 5 years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed "The Queen's Gambit." Queen used to be a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Until his engagement to Laurel Lance. However shortly before his disappearance, the longtime couple called the wedding off. Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased.**_

[Starling City Hospital]

Oliver stands looks out the hospital room window emotionless, his hair now cut and his facial hair shaved, outside his door a Doctor talks to a woman outside the room. "26% of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second-degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 16 fractures that never properly healed."

"Has he said anything about what happened?" The woman asks concerned about this information.

"No. He's barely said anything. Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost...might not be the one they found." He informs her. She opens the door and walks in, she slowly makes her way over to him, "Oliver."

At the sound of his name he slowly turns around to face her, at first there's no recognition in his eyes but then when he tilts his head slightly his eyes water and he speaks, "Mom."

They walk towards each other, "Oh... my beautiful boy." She says as they hug.

[Queen Mansion – Next Day]

A black sedan pulls up to the house. Oliver gets out and walks to the trunk as it opens and the driver reaches for the wooden suitcase but Oliver stops him "I've got it." Moira and Oliver walk and enter the house, "Your room is exactly as you left it. I never had the heart to change a thing."

Just then a tall dark man walks up to him, "Oliver. It's damn good to see you." Oliver tilts his head trying to remember if he knows this man, nothing comes to mind, "It's Walter..." He extends his hand and Oliver takes it and shakes it, "Walter Steele."

"You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." His mother tries to tell him but he simply walks past her to the maid, "It's good to see you, Raisa."

"Welcome home, Mr. Oliver." She says as she gives him a hug, "Mr. Merlyn phoned. He wants to join you for dinner."

"Wonderful." Moira says as Oliver hears a door open and close, "Oliver? Did you hear that?" She asks him but he just moves towards the stairs. A young woman comes to the top of the steps and stops when she sees him, "Hey, sis." He says giving her a small smile.

"I knew it. I knew you were alive." She runs down the steps and hugs him, he hugs her back. "I missed you so much."

"You were with me the whole time." He tells her as her as he lifts her up, he had missed her the most, his baby sister.

[CNRI Office]

Two women have a conversation whilst one checks the mail. "Come on, Laurel. We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this."

"If we can't win a class action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings, then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office."

"And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office. Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us."

"You and I against an army. I love those odds."

"Why do you hate me?"

Laurel scoffs as she sits down and stares at a board with pinned newspaper clippings and photos of ADAM HUNT. She hears the television but doesn't bother with it until the top story breaks:

 **Anchorman: And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about...the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story. Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story.**

Laurel turns her attention from the board to the television.

 **Jessica: "The Queen's Gambit" was last heard from more than 5 years ago, Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of 7 people. Including his father, Robert Queen...**

Laurel walks to the TV turns it off and everyone looks at her; she drops the remote on the table and proceeds to walk away. The pain she had felt all those years ago, resurfacing, the guilt for their breakup and ultimately his decision to go away with his father to give her what she wanted, space.

[Oliver's Bedroom]

 _After 5 years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable. The face I see in the mirror is a stranger._ Oliver looks at himself looking at all of his scars and at his tattoos. As thunder strikes, he sees himself in his gear.

 _[Flashback]_

 _Queen's Gambit – 5 Years Ago,_

 _Robert Queen stares at the ship radar whilst a man emerges from outside soaking wet. "The storm's a category 2. The captain's recommending, we head back."_

" _All right. Inform the crew." Robert tells him and the crewmember heads back out to inform the crew. Just then a young Oliver walks out of his room and looks at his father, "Are we in trouble?"_

" _No, the storms just making us head for safer waters." He says as he looks at his son, worried about him, "Are you and Laurel going to talk about it once you get back?"_

" _I honestly don't know, I thought this is what she wanted but she broke off the engagement. I'm not sure, maybe she just wasn't the one, or I wasn't enough for her."_

 _He sighs, thanks to her his son had matured and changed his ways, "You know, son, this may not finish well for either of you. But if you love her fight for her." Oliver just listens, he's not sure if what they had was love anymore._

Oliver is fully dressed and staring at a photo of him and his father at the front of the mansion, when he hears the front door open and hears his best friend. "What did I tell you? Yachts suck."

"Tommy Merlyn." Oliver responds, laughing slightly as he hugs his friend.

"I missed you, buddy." Tommy says having missed Oliver, who was like a brother to him.

[Dining Room]

Everyone is seated in the dining room for dinner, Oliver at one end with Thea and Tommy at either side, and his mom at the other end, with Walter to her right.

"Ok. What else did you miss? Super bowl winners... Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost,' they were all dead...I think." Tommy was making small talk and Oliver was lost in thought. After a few seconds, Thea looks at him and asks, "What was it like there?"

The table goes quiet and tension fills the room as they wait for his answer, he simply looks at her and smiles, "Cold. And lonely." His tone makes it clear that's all he has to say.

"Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city. You've got a lot to catch up on." Tommy tells him and Moira looks at him, "That sounds like a great idea."

"Good. Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Oliver says in reply and notices Walter about to take a sip from his wine stop.

"Well, there's plenty of time for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." He tells him with a small smile. Just then Raisa comes to set a bowl of pears on the table. She trips but Oliver catches her and restores her balance.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." She apologizes but his response surprises the entire room, "Eto ne bespokoit'sya (It's no worry)." Tommy looks at him "Dude, you speak Russian?" Oliver remains quiet until Walter speaks again, "I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver."

"I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Silence fills the room and the tension returns. Moira looks at Oliver then at Thea, "I didn't say anything."

Oliver looks at his mother, "She didn't have to." Moira nods in acknowledgement, "Oliver...Walter and I are married, and I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone." Walter explained as he and Moira hold hands.

Oliver visibly pained looks at them, "It's fine." He gets up, "May I be excused?" Moira nods and he grabs a pear, "Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Oliver simply nods and gives Thea a smile, before he leaves.

[Oliver's Bedroom]

It's raining heavily, the window is open and Oliver is lying on his bedroom floor asleep by the window soaking wet.

 _[Flashback]_

 _Queen's Gambit – 5 Years Ago_

 _Oliver is in his room, trying to busy himself with anything trying to get his mind away from any thoughts of Laurel. Suddenly he hears lightning crash extremely close and looks around, moments later the cabin tilts and Oliver is thrown into the side of the room. Oliver regains his balance and looks up to see the room begin to fill with water. Next moment he is swallowed by the water, he comes up and is far away from the yacht, he looks around and screams for his father, "Dad!"_

" _Oliver!" He turns around to see a lifeboat with a crewmember calling him over. Before he begins to make his way over, he screams for his father again, "Dad!"_

 _The crewmember screams his name again, "Oliver!" Oliver looks over and swims to the crew member on the lifeboat, "Gus." Oliver says in recognition as he climbs aboard the lifeboat, "No! No!" Oliver says not seeing his father he turns around to go back, "No!" but he is stopped by a strong hand. He turns around and sees his father, "Dad, I thought you were out there!"_

" _I'm here, Oliver. Right here." He hugs his son as they watch the yacht go down._

[Present Day]

Oliver is starting to shake and make noise, but before he can get loud a woman enters his room through the window and wakes Oliver. He wakes up in attack mode, flips her but she counters and tries to reach him softly, "Oliver? Wake up. Oliver?"

Oliver opens his eyes and looks at the woman, "Shado?" She smiles at him and releases his arm, "I've missed you and couldn't wait. Sorry."

He smiles at her and then sees that he's soaked and on the floor, he looks at her, "Nightmare?" she nods at his question and he sighs, "Thank you. If my family would have walked in they could have been hurt."

"No problem. Waiting for your return has been lonely." She says and he smiles and wraps his arms around her, "I've missed you too." They kiss after months of being apart. She gets up and walks to the bed, he smiles but walks to the door to lock it, he then makes his way to her and they lay down as he cradles her and he manages to fall into a restful sleep, after months of being away from her.

[Thea's Bedroom]

Thea is sitting in her room, thinking about Oliver, he seemed different. When he and Laurel were together he had matured and he had even become a better brother, although he was always a great one. Now it seemed he had matured even more. She's brought out from her thoughts at the sound of her door opening, "Ollie."

"No one's called me that in a while, Speedy." He says smiling at her.

"Worst nickname ever." She sighs as she gives him a hug, he returns the hug.

"What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well." Oliver said and she laughs lightly.

"I have something for you." He says after he lets her go, "You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir."

He smiles, "It's a Hozen and in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day, it would reconnect me with you." He hands her the arrowhead, and she smiles.

"A rock! That is sweet. You know, I want one of those t-shirts that says 'My friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt'." Oliver grins at the sound of his friend laughing.

"Don't let him get you into too much trouble. You just got back. Take it slow." Oliver kisses her on the check and they hug once more before he turns and walks out of her room.

"Ahem. The city awaits." Tommy said as he followed Oliver out, "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten?" Oliver gives him a stern look, "Because I have not." He quickly says as they make their way out of the mansion.

[Inside Tommy's Mercedes SLR]

Oliver stares out the window remembering waking up to Shado in his arms, through all he went through in that hell, she was his light. "Your funeral blew." Tommy says aloud as Oliver smiles.

"Did you get lucky?" he finally asks after realizing Tommy had spoken.

"Fish in a barrel. They were so sad..." he replies.

"No." Oliver sighed but smiled at his friend's antics, "And huggy. And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."

Oliver finally turns from the window and looks at him, "At my what?"

"You came back from the dead. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything. And this city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time. And why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" Oliver looks back out the window at his father's old factory.

"No reason." Oliver lies, and smiles when he notices a familiar petite figure coming out of the factory.

"So, what'd you miss the most, steaks at the palm, drinks at the station, Laurel?" Tommy asked trying to gage Oliver's response to the mention of his ex-fiancée.

"Thea." Oliver replied with a genuine smile, his sister had always been on his mind. It was the reason he was able to survive before he met Shado, and now he just wanted to see them meet and hope that Thea would accept her.

Tommy smiled at his friend, his sister of course, it looked like in his time away he had let things go with Laurel.

[Alleyway]

Tommy and Oliver walk back to his car after having lunch, "Ok, so we took care of that. Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day. What do you say?"

Just then a van approaches them from behind, Oliver and Tommy look back at the van, "What're they doing?" just then they are ambushed by armed gunman coming out of the van, "What the hell?" is all that Oliver gets the chance to say before he feels a tranquilizer dart hit him in the neck, he has enough time to take it out but he begins to fall to his knees he looks up to see a man come out of the building with bags, "Hey!" One of the men shoots him dead as Oliver finally succumbs to the tranquilizer.

 _[Flashback]_

 _On the lifeboat, Gus sets up a fluorescent light above the boat. Robert gives Oliver a bottle of water to drink, "Here, son. Drink."_

" _What the hell are you doing?!" Gus points to the bottle of water, "That's all we've got."_

" _If anybody's making it out of here, it's going to be him." He then turns to a groggy Oliver, "I'm so sorry. I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city. I failed it. And I wasn't the only one."_

[Desolate warehouse]

"Mr. Queen." Oliver hears one of the kidnappers calling him as he slowly awakens and then suddenly the darkness is replaced by blinding light as whatever was covering his head is yanked off. "Mr. Queen! Did your father survive that accident?" The man asks but Oliver ignores him and looks around to see two more men and then spots Tommy on the ground behind him.

"I ask the questions. You give me the answers." The man asks again and tasers him, but there is no sign of pain or discomfort coming from Oliver, "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" the man tasers him again and again Oliver doesn't respond to the jolt of electricity he simply glares at the man, who by now sees that something is wrong.

"Yes, he did." Oliver finally speaks drawing their attention back to him, "What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?" Oliver looks over at Tommy once again, he's unconscious on the floor also zip tied.

"He told me I'm going to kill you." Oliver told them as he looked at the man questioning him.

The three men laugh and the man with the taser speaks, "You're delusional, you are zip cuffed to that chair."

Oliver simply stares at them and shows his hands, "Not anymore."

The first kidnapper attacks Oliver, Oliver meanwhile dodges his attack and knocks him hard with his chair, breaking it and using one of the broken legs as a steak he rams it into the kidnapper's heart, taking his taser and hitting him under the chin just for the hell of it.

He then turns and disarms the second kidnapper and uses him as a human shield, as the third kidnapper shoots at him. Seeing that this job is screwed he makes a run for it as Oliver lets the second body drop. He looks over to Tommy and runs over to him, he checks for a pulse then runs after the third man.

The man looks back and sees Oliver quickly catching up to him running through obstacles as if it was a straight line. He shoots at him but Oliver stays a few feet ahead of the bullets until he runs out and has to reload. Oliver takes this chance and uses some chains as vines to swing around and hit the man, he stumbles and Oliver puts him in a chokehold.

"You killed that man." Oliver says in a dark tone, the man replies back in fear, "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. Nobody can know my secret." He breaks the man's neck killing him instantly. Just as the body hits the floor a woman in a green hood drops beside him looking at the man. "Tommy's still out."

He looks over at her, "This changes things. We need to get prepared but, in the meantime…" He smiled and walked up to her and kisses her, and she wraps her arms around his neck, returning his kiss.

"You should really get back to Tommy. Or he will be asking a lot of questions." She told him as they parted for some much-needed air, he groaned, "Just a few more seconds, I know you had to leave before my family woke up but I missed you when I woke up."

She smiled and kissed him again, "I missed you too."

[Queen Mansion]

Tommy and Oliver are sitting across from detectives, giving their statements, "So, that's your story. A guy in a black hood and a girl in a green hood flew in and singlehandedly took out 3 armed kidnappers. I mean, who are they? Why would they do that?" Det. Lance asks them and Oliver shakes his head with a confused look on his face, "I don't know. Find them and you can ask."

"Yeah. Okay, what about you?" He turns to face Tommy and shows him the sketch, "You see these hooded individuals?"

"I- I saw... nothing. Everything was blurry and I was kind of out of it." Tommy replied.

"One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Be careful, Oliver." Lance told him with slight concern, he didn't like Oliver but when he was presumed dead his daughter had been consumed by grief, having revealed to Lance that Oliver had gotten onto the yacht after she had broken off their engagement, just to give her space.

"Were you able to identify the men?" Moira asked Lance and he shook his head as his partner replied, "Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons. These were pros."

"They probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back. After all, a parent will do anything to keep their child safe." Lance said and Moira nodded in agreement.

"If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." Walter speaks to the Detectives who nod and say their goodbyes.

[Oliver's Bedroom]

Raisa enters with a lunch tray, she notices Oliver looking at a book, "You are different. Not like you to read a book."

Oliver smiled, "I missed you, Raisa." He grabbed the tray from her and laid it on his desk and she held his arms like a mother would her child, "No kitchen on the island?"

Oliver laughed lightly, "No. No friends either. Do I really seem different?"

"No. You're still a good boy." She said patting his cheek.

"Oh, I think we both know I wasn't." Oliver said remembering his life before Laurel and then the problems after.

"But a good heart." She told him causing him to smile at her, "I hope so. I want to be the person you always told me I could be."

[Outside the Mansion]

Oliver is leaving the Mansion when Moira stops him and introduces him to his new bodyguard, "Oliver, I want to introduce you to someone... John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on."

Oliver looks at the man and then back at his mother, "I don't need a babysitter."

Walter puts a hand on her shoulder as he looks at Oliver, "Darling, Oliver's a grown man. And if he doesn't feel he needs armed protection—"

"Yeah, I understand, but this is something I need." She said looking at Oliver with pleading eyes, he looked at her for a few seconds before he nods in acceptance.

[In the car]

Oliver sits in the back, "So... What do I call you?"

"Diggle's good. Dig if you want." His bodyguard replies from the driver's seat.

"You're ex-military?"

Diggle nods as he looks at the rearview mirror, "Yes, sir. 105th airborne off of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than 4 years now. I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement?"

There's no response and so Diggle asks again, "Sir?" The car door opens and closes, a car honks, Diggle looks back, to find Oliver gone. He slams on the brake, "Sir!" He gets out opens the passenger door and finds Oliver is gone.

Oliver walks through the slums. He reaches his father's old factory, he throws his bags over and scales the fence. He enters the abandoned factory and there waiting for him is Shado in one of his hoodies that she had taken from his room in the morning, he smiled when he saw her and kissed her in greeting.

She laughs, "It's good to see you too." He smiled lovingly at her, "Well I've missed you, and it kills me not to be able to spend time with you in public… Yet." At that she smiled sheepishly and kissed him. he held her tighter and they stood like that for as long as they could, until finally Shado, being the voice of reason, "We should get started, I checked the building and we can make it work." He sighed not wanting to let her go but he nodded.

Oliver took his shirt off as Shado watched him enjoying the view, he laughed at her and she shrugged her shoulders. Oliver got to work making a hole on the floor to the basement and then clearing the walls down there to make an open space for their lair. While he did that Shado brought in equipment that they had brought by unconventional methods and from unconventional groups.

Once they were done maneuvering a generator and equipment down into the lair, Shado took the hoody off to reveal a green tank top and began working out as Oliver began working on some arrowheads. _The abduction was unexpected. It forced us to move up our plans, but what I told the police was true. The man in the black hood and the woman in green hood was there in that warehouse, and they're just beginning._

 **Anchorman: The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary...**

Oliver now taking his turn on the Salmon ladder, _Adam Hunt...his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way. He hasn't met us yet._

Shado looked at him, "So, who gets first run at him?" Oliver smiles at her, "Race?"

[Parking Lot]

Adam Hunt is walking followed by a man and two of his guards, "You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off. I will turn him into a cautionary tale."

"Yes, Mr. Hunt." The other man replied, clearly scared of Hunt.

"And this attorney Laurel Lance...you said she wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I told you to fix that situation." They stop walking. Hunt walks towards him, "Why are you still here?" The man leaves as Hunt and his guards resume walking to the car when the lights go out.

Suddenly one of the bodyguards was knocked down by two throwing knifes, one hitting his knee and the other hitting his shoulder, "Unh!"

The second bodyguard turned to Hunt, "Get in the car!" he pushes Hunt into the car and closes the door before he fires into the ceiling where he believed the knives came from. He stopped firing only to hear a woman's voice behind him, "Hey. You missed."

The guard only had enough time to turn around before the woman punched his sides repeatedly "Unh!" before grabbing his head and bringing it down as a knee went up to meet it, "Unh!" the force knocked the guard back and before he fell to the floor he was out cold.

A man in a black hood walks calmly to the passenger door and in one swift motion he punches through the window, grabbing Hunt by his suite and pulling him out through it, "Unh!" he cried as he lands on his back and stares at the two figures, the woman in green pointed her bow at him while the man stood over him menacingly, "What? What? Just... just tell me what you want."

The woman in green spoke, "You're going to transfer $40 million into Starling City bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night."

Hunt finally getting his nerve back, glared at the duo, "Or what?"

This time the man in the black hoody grabbed Hunt by his collar and lifted him onto his feet before growling at him, "Or we're going to take it, and you won't like how." He throws Hunt against his car as the duo begins to leave.

Hunt glares at their backs and finds his voice again when he assumes their far enough, "If I see you again, you're dead!" Just then both hoods turn, the woman in the green hood fires an arrow, while the man in the black hood throws a knife, both hitting the back windshield and shattering two holes through it. A stunned Hunt looks at the holes on the glass and turns back to where the pair was only to see that they've disappeared.

[Lair]

Oliver and Shado arrive and as soon as they're inside she turns to him, "You win." He laughs and grabs her by the waste, "When I met you I certainly did." He kissed her and she returned the kiss passionately. Their longing for one another finally reaching the boiling point, she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist.

He carried her off to their training matts, he laid her down and got on top of her before she smiled against his lips and in one swift move she shifted their position, ending on top of him. They were lost in each other and finally for the first time in months they were together again.

[Hunt Multinational]

Hunt gives his statement to the police about his encounter with the hoods. Lance and Hilton are the leading detectives on the case and they pay close attention to his story.

"He was wearing a hood, a black hood, she was wearing a green hood and had a bow and arrow." The detectives look at each other, "What, you don't believe me?" Hunt asked the detectives who were skeptical, he turns to pick up two objects from his desk and shows them a green arrow, and a black throwing knife, "Those maniacs put two of my men in the hospital."

Detective Hilton takes the arrow while lance takes the throwing knife, "Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on..." Lance looks at the arrow and throwing knife then at his partner, "Robin Hoods?" Hilton added not sure what to call them.

Hunt having seen it as skepticism instead of confusion, "Hey, pals." He walks towards them, "I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line. Now he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security." He points to a tall man who walks up to them.

Lance and Hilton look at one another again and turn to Hunt, "All right. Well, uh, thanks for your time." They leave the office and walk back to the elevator, as they wait for the elevator Hilton turns to Quinten, "It looks like Queen was telling the truth."

"Well, these hooded figures come looking for trouble, they'll find it." Quinten says as he and his partner walk into the elevator and close the doors.

[Outside the Queen Mansion]

Oliver is leaves to go to his party, reluctantly but he smiled knowing she would be there. He opens the car door to find Diggle waiting for him inside, ready to accompany him to the party.

"Put on your seat belt, sir. Wouldn't want you to miss your party." Diggle says as Oliver gets in and smiles in disbelief.

[Oliver's Welcome Home Party]

Oliver arrives at the party. As he descends the stairs he brings out his phone and checks the timer, 9:07 PM, 53 minutes left for Adam Hunt to deliver. Tommy sees him and ushers him in, signaling for the music to end, "Everybody, hey! Man of the hour!" The crowd cheers and Oliver smiles at his friend, "Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming."

Oliver shook his head, Shado would kill him later because of Tommy. But he continued his walk up to the stage as music played in the background, "Thank you very much, everybody!" He addresses the crowd with a smile.

"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie, Ollie." Tommy began to chant and the crowd followed suite. He hands Oliver a shot and takes one himself as Oliver addresses the crowd once more, "I missed Tequila!" he takes the shot as the crowd cheers.

[Hunt Multinational]

Hunts' guards get ready and load their clips into their automatic weapons. Techno music is heard from outside. Hunt pours himself a drink and walks over to a window looking down across the street, "What the hell's going on out there?"

His head of security looks down and then back at his employer, "It's across the street. Party for the guy that got rescued off that island...Oliver Queen."

[Oliver's Welcome Home Party]

Tommy check out girls, pointing them out to Oliver but his eyes are drawn elsewhere as Diggle stands in the background. Tommy looks at the bodyguard, "Hey. Does he wipe for you, too?" this makes Oliver chuckle and shake his head, "Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden."

"Which one is she?" Oliver asks still not paying attention to the girls Tommy is looking at, "The one who looks like the chick from 'Twilight.'"

Oliver looks at him quizzically, "What's 'Twilight'?" Tommy looked away from the girls and looked at Oliver, "You're so better off not knowing."

Oliver sees Thea walking around with a blonde at her side and decides to go over to them, "Back in a minute." Oliver tells Tommy as he makes his way over to them, Diggle notices his movement and follows him. Oliver reaches them and clears his throat, "Ollie, hey! This party is sick." Thea says as she turns around to face him.

Oliver smiles at her, "Speedy, what are you doing here?" Thea looked at him but realized his concern and quickly shook her head, "It's not what you think, I did do stupid things but I had a friend that helped me," she turned to the blonde and Oliver finally realized who it was, "Sara?"

The blonde smiled up at him and nodded, "Hey, Ollie. Fancy meeting you here." He laughed as he hugged her, "It's good to see you again, Sara. Thanks for looking out for Thea." She smiled, "It was nothing, you always looked after me when I was her age. It was only fair to do the same when she needed it the most."

Thea smiled at them, "She's back in town and I thought it'd be nice for her to be here for you." Oliver smiled and hugged his sister looking at Sara again, "thank you." She simply nodded in return.

He watches the two go off talking to some of Sara's old friends. He turns and begins to walk away when he almost runs over someone, he begins to apologize before realizing who it was, "Oh! I'm so… Oh. You're here." He said surprised to see her here.

"Tommy, Sara and Thea. They made a point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them. Is there someplace quieter that we could go?" Laurel asked him and he looked at her confused, "Yeah. Sure, follow me."

He led her up to the Observatory floor and stopped wondering what she wanted to talk about, from what he remembered they had said everything they needed to say back then.

Laurel turned around to face him, biting her lower lip before proceeding, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I broke off our engagement because I was scared. I made a mistake, Ollie, but I need to know, is there still a chance, for me to fix this?"

Oliver looked at her, he had come to realize that he indeed had loved her at one point in time but what he felt for Shado, was much more. The simple thought of losing her was worse than when Laurel had broken their engagement, much worse.

Laurel looked at him hopefully but the silence that followed and the look in his eyes made it clear, he had moved on. "I'm sorry, Laurel. But you were right back then, we're not right for each other. It wasn't a mistake. But Tommy, Thea and Sara are right, we have many years between us even before we started dating. And I'll always be there if you need me, but only as a friend."

Laurel had expected him to be angry, hurt, even accept her back, as unlikely as the last one was, but she didn't expect him to be calm, sincere and happy. Before she could say anything, Oliver had walked up to her given her a small hug and walked past her.

She turned around to see him walking away, towards a woman she had never seen, a petite Asian woman with long black hair. She smiled playfully at him and he followed her, he was moving on. Before she herself knew it, tears were streaming down her eyes.

Shado's cell phone vibrates as she leads Oliver away into a corridor. She checks her phone; 10.00PM, account balance $0. Oliver finally catches up to her, "Something wrong?"

"We asked him to do something simple. He didn't do it." Oliver sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist, taking the opportunity that no one was around, Shado leaned back into his embrace.

[Service Hallway]

Shado had left to get their gear and wait for him on the roof. Oliver was walking down the hallway when Diggle came up behind him, "Something I can help you with, sir?"

Oliver turns around to face his bodyguard, "I just wanted a second to myself."

"I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap. Party's this way." Diggle replied motioning to a pair of doors. Oliver sighed and tried to open the doors, then with a frustrated smile he looked at Diggle, "It's locked."

Diggle goes to check and Oliver puts him in a sleeper hold and immobilizes him. He leaves him propped up against a wall and walks to the stairs to go meet with Shado.

[Hunt Multinational]

Drakon, the head of security, is giving out orders, "You two cover the elevator. Hang back and be ready. Stay in the corners and stay alert." He walks over to the doors and closes them after the men leave, he moves to the side to a small screen and locks can be heard clasping.

He turns to Hunt, "It's past 10:00. They're never getting in here."

Down below on the street Hilton and Lance look around as Officers move about guarding all entrances to Hunt Multinational, "All's clear." Hilton told his partner.

"Yeah." Replied Lance who was looking around for any sign of trouble. Nobody noticed the arrow with a zip line attached hitting the wall outside of Hunt's office.

Hunt was pacing in front of his desk when the lights on the floor went out. The four guards in the hall looked at the elevator, the only way in or out of the floor. For a couple seconds, nothing happened until the doors of the elevator opened and two of the guard in front of the elevator opened fire. When they finally stopped, they saw that no one was in the elevator, they moved closer to investigate but where killed instantly by two arrows piercing their hearts.

The remaining two guards aimed their guns down the hall ready for anything, or so they thought. In an instant a figure in a black hood dropped down in front of them and with a swift movement managed to disarm them both. This gave the woman in green time to step out of the elevator and fire another arrow at one of them while her partner began to beat down on the guard and finally with one strong kick sent him through the glass office doors.

As the stumbling man crashed through the doors the guard keeping watch fired at him until he realized, a little too late, that it was one of their own. In that instant, a throwing knife hit him in the head with enough force that the man's body hit the window and shattered it. The woman in green stepped in shortly after and took out the guard that was waiting in hiding trying to ambush them.

She then nocked an arrow and fired at Hunt, the arrow went slightly to the left missing Hunt who looked at her smugly, "You missed."

The woman in green looked at him, "Really?" just then the head of security, wielding two knives, attacked from his hiding spot. Slashing at her and managing to get her to take a step back he then followed with a kick that she blocked but the force was enough to send her to the ground. Taking this chance Hunt raced out and dialed the detectives down below, "They're here!"

"All units, converge! All units, converge!" Lance ordered from the bottom floor and everyone present went into action racing up to the top floor.

As the officers made their way up the head of security having sent the woman in in green down on the flower glared at her and smirked raising his arm ready to strike but before he could bring his hand down, a fist collided with his jaw sending him crashing towards one of the other windows. As he tried to shake his head in an effort to see clearly again, he was greeted by five consecutive punches to his face, in the background Lance can be heard giving orders "Go right, go right. On me."

Before the head of security can fall down to the savage beating he had taken, the man in the black hood grabbed his head and smashed him through the window sending him flying out of the building. Just then officers burst in to see the man be thrown through the window.

It took less than a minute to get their bearings again and point their guns at him, "Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire! I repeat, lay down your weapons." They were to occupied with him that no one noticed the woman nocking an arrow and firing it, disarming them. They only had time to look at her before she ran to the man in the black hood and they both jumped through the window.

Hilton and Lance push their way through the stunned officers and look out the window to see the man in black hood holding on to the zip-line with one hand and his other hand wrapped around his partner's waist.

"Tell me you saw that." Hilton says looking in disbelief at the sight in front of him, Lance is too stunned to say anything.

[Oliver's Welcome Home Party]

Detectives Lance and Hilton hurry into the building followed by the officer's looking for the hoods. "Ok. Let's go. Move. Cut it. Search the building roof to basement. Find him! Starling City police! The party's over, kids." Lance announced as the crowd booed at them.

Tommy sees him and walks over, "Oh, Mr. Merlyn. Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight?" Tommy stopped in his tracks, not sure what to say when Oliver comes to his aid, "Detective! It's a private party."

"Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight." Lance tells him as Oliver looks at him confused, "Who's Adam Hunt?"

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder." Lance told him before looking at Tommy, "and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends."

Hilton looked at Oliver to explain further, "Well, he just got attacked by the man and woman with the hoods, the guys that saved you two the other day."

Oliver looked at the two of them, "The hooded pair. You didn't find them?" Hilton shook his head as Lance looked at Oliver and asked, "Mind if I ask where you were 20 minutes ago?"

Oliver looked at him and then at Tommy, who now was also wondering where he had been, having not seen him in the crowd. "He's been with me. We've been getting better acquainted." Oliver smiled at hearing her voice, he turned to her and introduced her to the detectives. "Detectives, Shado. Shado meet some of SCPD finest."

Shado smiled and shook their hands, "It's a pleasure to meet you. As I was saying, Oliver here, was with me."

Tommy looked at Oliver and then at Shado, he notes the smiles on both faces, and can't remember Oliver ever smiling like that with Laurel. Quinten also notices his smile, he gave a small sigh knowing that if Laurel had seen them it would break her heart.

He turns to his partner, "Let's go, partner." Hilton looks at him and nods, the hoods clearly wouldn't be any of these kids.

As the detectives leave Tommy looks at Oliver, "Some coincidence, I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door and by the same pair who rescued us at the warehouse."

Oliver looks at him and nods in agreement, "Tommy, I'm just glad I'm alive. I'm not sure why they saved us," Oliver turns to Shado, "but I'm happy to be here today."

Tommy watches as Oliver walks with Shado off into the crowd. Oliver had never been one to dance, so Tommy was surprised when he began to dance with Shado, even if he was just swaying. He didn't remember if he had ever seen him dance with Laurel either, and even though they were 'party boys' Tommy never remembered Oliver ever dancing with anyone. Just who was this girl that had managed to catch Oliver's eyes in an instant?

[Hunt Multinational]

Hunt is talking on his phone as workers go about cleaning his office, "What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish! Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it!" he hangs up and sits down in his office chair, "How did he do it?"

As Hunt sulks around he doesn't notice the arrow that had 'missed' had a device attached to it. It was steadily blinking a small green dot.

Meanwhile back at the lair, Oliver is looking at two screens, one is finishing transferring the money into the account he had created and the other was redistributing the money to the accounts of Hunt's victims. Shado sat on his lap as they watched the computers work.

She leaned back into him, "One name down." He wrapped his arms around her, "I know it was hard waiting for me, but I didn't want you running into trouble with me being on the island." She smiled, even though she could defend herself, she loved it when he protected her.

Not being able to control herself anymore she turned her head and kissed him, at first it was a tender loving kiss and then it turned into a pure passionate frenzy. Shado had known Oliver's two sides, his gentle white knight and his berserker side. And they both knew how to please her immensely, in their first encounter since he was back he was loving and passionate but now she needed and wanted his other primal half. She did the one thing that she knew would cause his change, she bit the base of his neck hard and when she heard him grunt, she knew she'd get what she wanted and needed.

[Outside CNRI]

After their session, Shado led Oliver to CNRI to see how the case against Hunt was going, even though they couldn't see inside they knew that everything was going great by the smiles of the lawyers handling the case receiving phone calls. They were crouched on a fire escape, watching when they noticed that Laurel and Tommy walked out into the alley.

"You left the party pretty quick last night, even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir." Tommy said to Laurel who turned to face him.

"It wasn't really my scene."

"I thought maybe you and Oliver went at it after what happened before he left on the Yacht. I saw you two head out."

Laurel looked away as new tears began to form, "There's nothing between Oliver and I, not anymore. I messed that up on that night. I was expecting him to be angry with me or sad at the reminder, and I also hoped he'd give us another chance. But he looked me in the eyes, he was calm, sincere, and he looked happy. I… I lost him to someone else…" her tears began to fall and Tommy was taken aback, he had met the girl but he didn't know Laurel had seen her as well.

"Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us." Tommy told her hoping that maybe she would give them a chance.

Laurel shook her head, "I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us,' Tommy. What we had was just a lapse."

Tommy looked at her a little hurt, "That's quite a few lapses... your place, my place, my place again."

Laurel felt guilty again, she had been with Tommy because he had been there with her missing his best friend. She had broken the engagement with Oliver sure but she still felt she betrayed him. "We both know that you're not a one girl type of guy. Besides I may have lost Ollie, for now. But that doesn't mean we weren't meant to be, it just wasn't meant to be at the time."

She wiped her face before walking back to CNRI, "I have to go back to work."

Shado looks at Oliver, who instinctively wraps his arm around her waist. "It was never meant to be with her and she and I will never be. I lived through hell and found love, found someone I can't see myself living without. I found my better half. I found the light through the darkness."

She smiled at his words, this man made her feel like never before, and it made her remember her father's words to her before his death, _"Tā ài n_ _ǐ_ _. T_ _ā_ _z_ _à_ _i t_ _ā_ _de y_ _ǎ_ _nj_ _ī_ _ng; r_ _ú_ _gu_ _ǒ_ _n_ _ǐ_ _à_ _i t_ _ā_ _, g_ _à_ _osu t_ _ā_ _, t_ _à_ _i w_ _ǎ_ _nle (He loves you. It's in his eyes; if you love him tell him before it's too late)."_

She kissed him and looked into his eyes, "I love you." He smiled and kissed her before grinning, "I love you, too. Wǒ de ài (My love)."

 _ **The island changed me. More than they realize. There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island.**_

[Backyard Garden]

A man walks down the steps to the garden, he looks at the woman waiting for him, "The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver, and they never will. Should we arrange another abduction?"

The woman turns around to reveal it to be Moira Queen, "No. There are other ways of finding out what my son knows."

 **Authors Note:**

 **I'm not sure if I will update anytime soon given that I am writing so many other stories at the same time. I just had to write this idea down and see how people react to it.**


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